Class Notes November 2017

Class Notes November 2017

1960s

William Butler, SIS/BA
’61, was awarded a gold medal, the National Academy of Legal Sciences of
Ukraine’s highest honor, for services to
Ukrainian law in March 2017.

Jill Ayn Schneider, CAS/BA ’66, published
Annie Sunbeam, a comic book that teaches children about
environmental issues. The comic was featured at the first United Nations Ocean
Summit and San Diego Comic-Con International. Schneider
is cofounder of Comics Uniting Nations, a partnership between UNICEF and
NGOs PCI Media Impact and Reading with Pictures, whose mission is to make the
United Nations’s Sustainable Development Goals accessible to the citizens of
the world through comics.

Ann Beattie,
CAS/BA ’69, published The Accomplished Guest, a collection of 13 stories
set in a variety of locales, from Key West, Florida, to Virginia and Maine. The
stories address the stark indignities of aging, friends reuniting, loneliness,
and travel.

Joyce Hospodar,
CAS/BS ’69, is senior advisor of rural programs at the Center for Rural Health
at the University of Arizona’s Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.
She is a member of the newly formed National Emergency Medical Services Council
led by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy.

René Sacasas, CAS-SPA/BA ’69, is the first
university faculty ombudsperson professor and chair of the business law
department at the University of Miami. He is charged with helping individual
faculty or groups of faculty resolve conflict, address problematic issues, and bring
systemic concerns to the attention of academic leaders for resolution.

1970s

Janet Gibbs, CAS/BA
’72, published her second book, Pawn of Fate, a novel about the silk
mill industry and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) labor union during
the early twentieth century. A middle school literature teacher at St. Patrick
School in Chatham, New Jersey, she was awarded the 2016 Joan Lavine Keats
Social Justice Award from the Julius and Dorothy Koppelman Holocaust/Genocide
Resource Center at Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. The grant
will help the school expand its Holocaust and genocide studies curriculum.

Benjamin Levin, CAS/BA ’72, is one of three
Hyland Levin partners named to the Best Lawyers
in America 2018. He is managing partner of the firm, headquartered in Marlton,
New Jersey, and represents global food manufacturers and national franchise
companies.

Dennis Lucey,
Kogod/MBA ’72, along with his wife, Pam, and former US Senator George Mitchell
(D-ME), hosted the National American-Ireland Dinner in Washington, DC, on March
15. The dinner honored both the senator and Vice President Mike Pence. Lucey
cochaired the dinner, which raised $800,000 to support programs that promote
peace and reconciliation, arts and culture, education, and community
development throughout Ireland.

George Schaefer,
SPA/BA ’72, was recognized by his peers as one of the leading mentors and
investors to entrepreneurs and startups in the Central Texas area in December
2016. Schaefer advises, develops, and invests in new businesses in the Austin
area, where he and wife, Lois, have lived for four years. He also lectures and
publishes articles on the subject.

Kermit Washington, CAS/BA ’73, and Patricia Harris, CAS/BA
’73, coauthored 20-20: The Kermit Washington Story. The book chronicles
Washington’s life, including his time at AU as a forward on the basketball team
and his NBA career.

Robert Sandler,
SPA/BA ’75, is 1 of 10 Farrell Fritz attorneys named to the Best Lawyers in
America 2018. Farrell Fritz is a full-service law firm of 85 attorneys who
support the New York business community.

Stephen Christy, SPA/BA ’76, was elected to the
board of supervisors of Pima County, Arizona, in November 2016. Christy sold
his car dealership, Steve Christy Chrysler-Jeep, which he owned for 40 years,
in 2007. Since then he has served as chair of the Arizona State Board of
Transportation and the Pima County Regional Transportation Authority. He and
his wife, Susie, have been married for 35 years. They have three daughters and
two grandchildren.

Jules Mermelstein,
WCL/JD ’79, is the Green Party nominee for judge on the Pennsylvania Superior
Court. He has been a criminal lawyer, social studies teacher, township
commissioner, and UD Medal winner.

1980s

Stephen Tillett, SPA/BA
’82, has released a new book, Stop Falling for the Okeydoke: How the Lie of
“Race” Continues to Undermine Our Country.

Alicia Anstead, CAS/BA ’83, was appointed associate
director for programming in the Office for the Arts at Harvard University. She
is editor in chief and cofounder of the Harvard Arts Blog, and editor in
chief of Inside Arts, the magazine for the Association of Performing
Arts Professionals in Washington, DC. Anstead is a journalism instructor at the
Harvard University Extension School.

Charles DeBevoise, WCL/JD ’83, is 1 of 23 Davis Malm attorneys named
to the list of 2017 Massachusetts Super Lawyers. Davis Malm is a full-service
law firm in Boston.

Mark Chappell,
CAS/BA ’84, was awarded the 2016 Paper of the Year by the American Physiological Society for his study, “Evidence for
a Mitochondrial Angiotensin-(1-7) System in the Kidney.”

David Calabrese, SIS/BA ’88, was promoted to senior vice president
of government affairs and deputy general manager at the Washington, DC, office
of the Daikin US Corporation, a global air conditioning manufacturer.

Guillermo
“William” Christensen, SIS/BA ’88, joined the
Washington, DC, office of Brown Rudnick LLP, an international law firm, as a partner in the white collar litigation
practice, where he leads the firm’s cybersecurity practice. He also recently joined the advisory
board of the Reves Center for International Studies at the College of William
and Mary.

Tracey
O’Shaughnessy, CAS/BA ’88,
published her second collection of essays, Put the Kettle Onand
Other Culture Disconnections. Her first book is Every Little Thing:
Reflections on Family, Faith and Friendship. She has been a newspaper
columnist for 33 years.

Steve “Sig” Greenebaum, SOC/BA ’89, has been named
head of global live events for Overwatch
and Overwatch League at Blizzard
Entertainment. Overwatch League is thefirst
ever professional e-sports league, kicked off in late 2017. Greenebaum,
former director of the C3 Presents/Live Nation Festival, spent the last 10
years producing the Voodoo Music and Arts Experience, the NFL draft, the
Quiksilver Pro World Championship of Surfing, and the Essence Music Festival.

John Quinlan, SPA/MSHR ’89, released his debut book, Tau
Bada: The Quest and Memoir of a Vulnerable Man. He takes the reader on a
motorcycle adventure through a remote mountain valley in Colorado to live in a secluded
village nestled in the rainforest of Papua New Guinea. Quinlan and his wife,
Fiona, live in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, where he manages Growth Strategies
Global, a consulting firm.

1990s

Jeffrey
Brenner, WCL/JD ’90, has been recognized by Chamber USA as a leader in his field
at Nixon Peabody, LLP, a global law firm with clients in the United States,
Europe, and Asia. He concentrates his practice on commercial litigation,
construction disputes, complex real estate issues, and tort litigation in Rhode
Island and Massachusetts.

Adam Greenberg, SPA/BA ’90, was sworn in as a municipal court
judge in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, where he also serves as the managing partner
of a law firm. A former cocaptain of the AU rugby club, he has been affiliated
with the South Jersey Rugby Club since graduating from AU.

Michael Sharon, SPA/BA ’90, published Green Day Rising: Before
the Dookie Flew, a small book that documents Green Day’s last Bay Area club
gig before they hit superstardom.

Lamont Silves, SIS/BA ’90, joined Temporal Defense Systems as senior vice
president with responsibility for business development and strategic
initiatives. He returned to the United States last year after nearly four years
in the Middle East.

Patricia Caballero, SOC/BA ’91, Kogod/MBA ’00, was appointed managing director for US
business development at Burson-Marsteller, a strategic communications and global public
relations firm.

Michelle Suskauer, WCL/JD ’91, was appointed the Florida Bar
president for 2017–2018. Suskauer is president of the board of directors at the
Legal Aid Society in Palm Beach County, where her work garnered a 2016 Bethesda
Hospital Foundation Women of Grace Award. She is also a managing partner of the
two-person law firm Suskauer Feuer LLC, making her the first president of the
Florida Bar in 15 years to come from a firm composed of one or two lawyers.

Cindy Cesare, SOC/BA
’93, has been named to the board of directors of the Media Arts Center San
Diego. The nonprofit provides new media tools and channels to create equitable
and engaged communities where underserved voices are heard. Cesare owns CinCity
Media in Las Vegas and is a full-time freelance field producer for CBS News and
48 Hours.

Sheryl Seiden, SPA/BA ’93, opened her own law firm in Cranford,
New Jersey, where she specializes in family law matters, including dissolution
of marriages, custody and parenting time issues, alimony and child support,
domestic violence, postjudgment issues after a party’s divorce, and prenuptial
agreements.

Tom Legare, SPA/MS
’94, was appointed director of change management at Tufts Health Plan. He is
responsible for defining the change management approach for the Core Health
Rules Migration program, guiding the organization through changes in technology
and business processes, and establishing the conditions for a smooth
transition.

Julie Andreeff
Jensen, SPA/BA ’95, WCL/JD ’02, has joined the board of
trustees of the John G. Shedd Aquarium, Chicago’s most visited paid cultural
attraction. Jensen is managing director and chief corporate affairs and
communications officer for Citadel.

Kristen Eastlick, SPA/MA
’96, was named vice president of programs at the Capital Research Center (CRC),
a nonprofit think tank that conducts research on various public policy advocacy
organizations. She joined CRC after a nearly 20-year career at Berman and
Company, an issue advocacy firm, where she served as the chief administrative
officer.

Shaohua Hu, SIS/PhD ’97, associate professor of government and politics and
coordinator of the International Affairs program at Wagner College, has
published his second book, Foreign Policies Toward Taiwan.

Benjamin Jones, SPA/MPA ’97, earned a master’s degree in applied
positive psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and published his thesis,
“Positive Public Service: Turning Purpose into Progress by Changing How
Government Works from the Inside.”

Brooke Forte Manrique, SIS/BA
’97, was appointed vice president of global human resources and communications
for SI Group, a global chemistry company. At 40, she is one of the youngest
female executives in the chemical industry.

2000s

Jean Accius, SPA/PhD
’00, was selected as one of 10 new generation social insurance leaders by the
eight living founding board members of the National Academy of Social
Insurance, a nonprofit organization committed to advancing solutions to
challenges facing the nation by increasing public understanding of how social
insurance contributes to economic security.

Donna Ginn, SPA/MS ’01, was appointed AARP Florida State volunteer
president. AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, social welfare organization, with
a membership of nearly 38 million people.

Ian Steff, SIS/BA ’03, was appointed
deputy assistant secretary of commerce for manufacturing in the Trump
administration. His responsibilities include overseeing several national
initiatives designed to boost American manufacturers’ global competitiveness in
more than
12 sectors.

Sandra
Colareta, WCL/JD ’04,
was promoted to vice president of contracts and risk management at Billy Casper
Golf.

Carlos Andres Hunt, Kogod/BSBA ’04, and his wife, Carla, welcomed their son Adrián Lucas Hunt on
July 2.

CJ Perego, SIS/BA
’04, and Jeff Rothenberg, Kogod/BSBA ’04, first met as freshman
roommates in AU’s Anderson Hall, and later pledged Sigma Chi together. They
have remained close friends ever since and are proud that their AU-based
friendship has grown and thrived throughout the years. Perego is a US State
Department foreign service officer and lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with his
wife, Andrea Perego, SIS/BA ’04, and their sons Charlie and Teddy. His
family is preparing for their next posting to Almaty, Kazakhstan. Rothenberg
lives with his wife, Sarah Feldman, WSP ’03, and daughter, Lilia, in
Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He serves as managing director for the Sigma
Chi Foundation, a public charity promoting values-based leadership and
scholarship.

Christa
Tinari, SIS/MA ’05,
published Create a Culture of Kindness in Middle School: 48
Character-Building Lessons to Foster Respect and Prevent Bullying. An international
speaker, trainer, peace builder, and
educational consultant on bullying prevention and improvement of schoolenvironments, she cowrote this book with
award-winning author Naomi Drew.

Sean Gunn, CAS/BA
’06, is the 2017 recipient of the National Association of Federal Defenders
Award for Outstanding Research and Writing Attorney in a Capital Habeas Unit.
He currently serves as an assistant federal
public defender in the Capital Habeas Unit of the Office of the Federal
Public Defender for the Northern District of Florida.

Stuart Matthews, SIS/MA
’06, has launched Matthews Immigration Group,
an immigration and nationality law firm
headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. His practice is nationwide and
focuses on business and corporate immigration matters.

Nic
Sakurai, CAS/MA ’07, became the first person in the United States to officially
receive a driver’s license with the gender-neutral
marker “X.”

Robert G. Borowy, Kogod/MST
’08, has been admitted as partner at Deloitte Tax LLP in Baltimore, Maryland.

Jonathan
McPike, CAS/BS ’08, SPA/BA ’08, joined the Indianapolis office of Taft
Stettinius and Hollister LLP in the business and finance group. Prior to
joining Taft, McPike practiced in the national private equity group of Kirkland
and Ellis LLP in Chicago, where he focused on representing private equity fund
sponsors and managers in the formation and operation of private equity funds
and in the acquisition and disposition of their respective portfolio companies.

Colleen
Zakrewsky, SOC/MA ’08, was appointed chief development officer at FINCA
International, a nonprofit microfinance organization that provides financial
services and social good products to low-income entrepreneurs worldwide. She is
responsible for leading FINCA’s fundraising and marketing efforts for private
and public donors.

Michael
Minnick, SPA/BA ’09, is staff attorney at the Greensboro, North Carolina, office
of Brooks Pierce, a business law firm providing strategic counsel and
innovative solutions to clients nationwide. He works with attorneys across the
firm to help them identify, review, and preserve electronic data in preparation
for trial.

2010s

Brenda
Gaydosh, CAS/PhD ’10, published Bernhard Lichtenberg: Roman Catholic Priest
and Martyr of the Nazi Regime. She has also been promoted to associate
professor at West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

Justin Gibbs, SOC/MA ’10, was appointed senior executive advisor
at Jarrard Phillips Cate and Hancock, a strategic communications and engagement
firm for leading health care providers across the country. Prior to joining the
firm, he managed public affairs and grassroots campaigns at the St. Louis
headquarters of Fleishman Hillard, a global public relations and marketing
agency.

Lauryn
Smith Gibbs, SOC/MA ’10, and Justin Gibbs, SOC/MA ’10,
are delighted to announce the birth of their son, Marshall Louis Gibbs. He was
born on February 19, 2017, in Nashville, Tennessee, where the family resides.

James
Huver, SIS/MA ’10, earned a master of science degree in strategic intelligence
from the National Intelligence University in Bethesda, Maryland, on July 28,
2017.

Samantha
Schiro, SPA/BA ’10, Kogod/BS ’10, and Kristopher Kagan, SPA/BA ’10, were
married on July 2, 2017, at the Vanderbilt Museum in Centerport, New York. They
met during a four-year leadership program at the School of Public Affairs.
Kagan is vice president of finance at the startup Scientist.com, and Schiro is
a portfolio management associate at Becton Dickinson, an American medical
technology company. They live in San Diego, California.

Gineen
Cargo, SOC/MA ’12,
was appointed to the Wells Fargo Endowed Chair in the Department of
Communications at North Carolina Central University. She owns Cargo and Co.
Events, an event planning company in Cary, North Carolina, and serves as lead
planner.

Caitlin
Soto,
Kogod/BSBA ’12, has been appointed to oversight counsel with the Senate Finance
Committee for the majority staff, focusing on health care-related issues.

Lee Blaser, SIS/MA
’13, and Andrew “AJ” Doty, SIS/MA ’13, were married on June 3 in
Washington, DC. The couple met in 2011 when they took a statistics course
together in the School of International Service. They now work for the US
Forest Service International Programs.

Luke
Heselden, SIS/MA ’13,
is a policy analyst at the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls at the US
Department of State. He works to prevent sensitive technology from getting into
the wrong hands and advises policy makers to advance US interests at home and
abroad.

Jessica
Fredericks, SOC/MA ’14, was named director
of communications for the White House Historical Association.
Fredericks joins the association with 11 years of experience in media and
strategic communications. She most recently served as public relations and
publications manager for the Washington Ballet.

Erin
Bell, SIS/MA ’16, received a
Fulbright US Student Program Award to Senegal from the US Department of State
and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. She will support the
teaching of English and community projects as part of the Fulbright English
Teaching Assistantship.